UK Hallmarks being struck in India?

[FailedAssay]

Anyone got any views on this? Importing our own hallmarks from an assay office in India, or allowing Indian factories to make things and give them UK hallmarks in Mumbai which are then sold in other countries as though assayed in the UK sounds a bit bizarre. Is it still a UK hallmark and what does that mean for the uniqueness and special nature of our 700 years of traditional UK marks?

http://www.jewelleryfocus.co.uk/1775...e-uk-hallmarks

https://www.antiquestradegazette.com...e-hallmarking/

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/in...lery-nxgkcdl7p

The petition is here if anyone is interested:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/162103

[Goldsmith]

Hello FailedAssay, first yes I have already signed the petition and second welcome to the forum,by the way it's good for new members to say Hello and introduce yourself to the rest of us.

James

[bills makes]

signed the petition

[Faith]

I hadn't heard about this, I don't really read any 'jewellery press' I'm not sure I knew there was any, and now feel like a bit of a troglodite missing out on a world of news....

It is kind of interesting, I suppose the point of a hallmark is to assure the quality, not where the item was made, but for a long time those two things will have correlated, and even for imports gives the reassurance of something being stamped on british soil. I suppose the idea is that these overseas assay houses are like little embassy's of british hallmarking further afield - and if they actually were like embassy's, under british law, it'd be kinda different.

Well it seems sad to me that a Birmingham anchor can get stamped in Mumbai (and not in the least because of the wealth of Mumbai related stamp options - a nice elephant or tiger perhaps), so i'll be signing it.

Faith

[pearlescence]

But an item with a Mumbai elephant hallmark could not be sold in the UK. That's the Hallmarking acts for you.
The whole requirement for a hallmark is probably a breach of EU law anyway, while we are still in, as it is a requirement for goods which can legally be sold in another member state to go through an assessment process before being sold here. Its called a qualitative barrier to trade.

[metalsmith]

But an item with a Mumbai elephant hallmark could not be sold in the UK. That's the Hallmarking acts for you.
The whole requirement for a hallmark is probably a breach of EU law anyway, while we are still in, as it is a requirement for goods which can legally be sold in another member state to go through an assessment process before being sold here. Its called a qualitative barrier to trade.

The French also hallmark their silver and I believe that there's an accord struck with the UK, to recognise one another's hall marks, so strictly no requirement of assessment for all goods.

[Patstone]

Yes and me, I signed it too.

[FailedAssay]

Apart from objections by nearly all the Birmingham makers, heard that other assay offices and government not happy with BAO using same mark in India and that it was 'not in spirit' of what was agreed when the Act was changed. British Hallmarking Council reviewing its decision and may require offshore sub-offices to use something different to the traditional UK city marks for London, Edinburgh etc.

[pearlescence]

To what are nearly all Birmingham makers objecting?

[FailedAssay]

This is in the Birmingham Post. Looks like Birmingham Assay might have been getting ahead of themselves.

http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/busi...arter-13085354